Icehouse - Icehouse (Flowers)

Icehouse is the debut studio album from Australian rock synth-pop band Icehouse (Flowers), originally released in October 1980 via Regular Records.

Formed as Flowers in Sydney in 1977, and initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, Icehouse later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synth-pop music, attaining chart success in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies (singer-songwriter, record producer, guitar, bass, keyboards, oboe) supplying additional musicians as required.

All the songs on Flowers debut album Icehouse were written by Iva Davies (including four co-written with Michael Hoste). The lead single from the album was Can’t Help Myself which was a catchy up-tempo number, reaching #10 on the Australian Singles charts. The second single was We Can Get Together which was very similar in sound and style to the lead single, reaching #16 on the Australian Singles charts. Walls was the third single reaching #20 on the Australian charts.

The album was a great success in Australia reaching #4 on the Australian Albums charts.

Flowers signed a record deal with Chrysalis Records for the International market and the band had to change its name as a British band was already called The Flowers. Icehouse was chosen as the new name for the band to avoid any confusion.

For the international release, the vocals were re-recorded and the songs remixed and new album cover artwork was produced. A video was made for the single Icehouse that was released in Europe and North America. The album reached #82 on the US Billboard Pop Albums charts.

In October 2010, Icehouse by Flowers was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

The album was produced by Cameron Allan and Iva Davies, and the members of Icehouse that recorded this album were:

• Iva Davies – vocals; guitars; oboe; keyboards
• Michael Hoste – keyboards
• John Lloyd – drums; backing vocals
• Anthony Smith – keyboards; backing vocals
• Keith Welsh – bass; backing vocals

Check out a couple of tracks from the album:  Icehouse (live) ; We Can Get Together (Live) ; Can’t Help Myself (Live) ; Walls ; We Can Get Together (UK Version) and Icehouse.

This LP record is a reissue (February 2017) on 180 gram vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve, pressed in Europe.